Youth of the Nation
by WriTerGrL
Summary: What do you do when the evil force behind the crime are your peers, the victims are your peers. What happents to a hero when they realize they can't control everything, can't save everyone. PLZ R&R!


Ok I went to a seminar called Rachel's Challenge a few days ago and it inspired me to write this fic. Rachel was killed at Columbine High school. This will later on lead to my promised fic "Breaking the Habit" which is centered mainly on Raven. I was also inspired by P.O.D obviously. "Youth of the Nation" doesn't belong to me… I just like thinking it does.

* * *

**YOUTH OF THE NATION**

I walked down the hall of this prison I called my middle school. There was the cool crowd by their lockers. The jocks seemed to be messing with some goth dude as always. The scream at his face "Freak" and your occasional "faggot". There were tears in the terrified boys face as they began to pummel him to the ground. I passed by the vice principals office looking a bit suspicious hoping she wouldn't question me about what I had just seen. Did I tell mom and dad I loved them? Why the hell did I just think that? Note to self: need new wheels for skateboard.

**_Last day of  
The rest of my life  
I wish I would've known  
'Cause I didn't  
Kiss my mama goodbye  
I didn't tell her  
That I loved her  
And how much I care  
Or thank my pops  
For all the talks  
And all the wisdom  
He shared_**

I took off my beanie and put in my pocket. I shook my shaggy blond mane as I tried to make myself look somewhat presentable. God this sucked the bell was about to ring. God damnit I have a test in math don't I? Its ok I'll copy of that slut Susie who sits in front of me…never mind she'll be too busy flirting with someone... damn there goes that idea.

There was that creepy guy next to Susie…hey isn't that the goth dude the jocks were just messing with? Shut up and stop thinking… just get to class first! is there a God? WHY THE HELL DO THESE THINGS KEEP POPPING IN MY HEAD!

What the hell was that goth guys name? Did anyone know? Did hey have any friends? What the…I don't care that's his business. I ran into class my heart pounding as I climbed into my seat. The teacher was too preoccupied to notice me as she was writing something on the board.

_**Unaware  
I just did  
What I always do  
Everyday  
The same routine  
Before I skate  
Off to school**_

_**But who knew  
That this day  
Wasn't like the rest  
Instead of taking a test  
I took two to the chest**_

I looked to the goth boy who sat next to the beautiful blond girl. Are those tears? I noticed the blood that was starting to drip on the tabletop. I noticed the purple and black bulge that was once his lips. The jocks had been harder on him than usual. I looked to Susie who was flirting and putting on her make-up. She then made extra sure her stuffed push up bra was just right. How old was she…12? She looked like a prostitute. What do her parents think? What the- when did I start caring?

The morning announcements came on…boring as usual. The girl next to me who was also considered "goth" looked at me strangely. There was an inescapable look of fear and worry in her eyes. I put my hand over my heart. The sound of it pounding in my ears…something isn't right, something isn't right! Get the hell out of here NOW!

"I pledge allegiance to the flag…"

BAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

"Oh My god!" someone screams

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! The sounds of gunshots and the rushing wind filled my eyes as the adrenaline rushed through my scrawny 13 year old body.

I ran as fast as I could. There he was, the goth boy who everyone loved to pick on, tears flowing down his face, shooting like a mad man! The teacher's blood was all over the board. I ducked to floor and ran like the others into the other hall.

_**Call me blind  
But I didn't see it coming  
Everybody was running  
But I couldn't hear nothing**_

_**Except gun blasts  
It happened so fast  
I don't really  
Know this kid  
Even though  
I sit by him in class**_

_**Maybe this kid was  
Reaching out for love  
Or maybe for a moment  
He forgot who he was  
Or maybe this kid  
Just wanted to be hugged  
Whatever it was  
I know it's because**_

_**We are  
We are  
The youth of the nation**_

There it was again but it was closer now! Oh my God! I miss my mom my dad. There were more of them down the hall way. I jumped over the bodies of my peers as a continued to run from the boy behind me. They were everywhere! They were phantoms who longed to kill me. They were predators that loomed in the shadows. I looked behind me there she was…Susie was sprawled on the floor two holes in her head. I ran faster down the hall. It hurt my ears, all the screaming …the gun shots.

_**Little Suzy  
She was only twelve  
She was given the world  
With every chance to excel**_

_**Hang with the boys and  
Hear the stories they tell  
She might act kind of proud  
But no respect for herself  
She finds love in  
All the wrong places  
The same situations  
Just different faces**_

_**Changed up her pace  
Since her daddy left her  
Too bad he never told her  
She deserved much better  
We are  
We are  
The youth of the nation**_

I ducked into the janitors closet as another boy with a machine gun walked past. I shook my head in disgust. It was Johnny. He was in my fifth period class. I **KNEW** him…at least I thought I did. I had helped him once or twice when he was getting picked on. He always got picked on for some reason. He would get in trouble for dumb reasons, mainly his own fault anyway.

He saw me…his eyes filled with tears as he turned and walked away real fast. He was giving me a chance to run away. I heard a girl scream. I peeked through a crack in the door. "Please God! Don't shoot me!" she cried in hysterics as she fell to her knees. He shot her in the face ten times laughing as he did so. He saw me but as a way to repay let me go.

_**Johnny boy  
Always played the fool  
He broke all the rules  
So you would  
Think he was cool**_

_**He was never  
Really one of the guys  
No matter  
How hard he tried  
Often thought of suicide**_

_**It's kind of hard when  
You ain't got no friends  
He put his life to an end  
They might remember him then**_

_**You cross the line and  
There's no turning back  
Told the world how he felt  
With the sound of a gat**_

_**We are  
We are  
The youth of the nation**_

I ran down the hall way. I was almost there! I ducked into a dark office and picked up a phone. My fingers trembled; I couldn't dial the freaking phone! I steadied my hand with the other.

"911 What is your emergency" I heard the operator on the other line say. It was like hearing a savior.

"There's a bunch of guys shooting up Jump City Middle School…Oh No! Ahhh!" I could smell a metallic scent in the air. I felt my breath leave me at once. I brought my hands to my chest feeling the hole that punctured my left lung. The predator had found its prey.

"Sir? Sir?" the operator screamed frantically as she heard the young man's blood curdling scream.

"Help!!!" the sound of gunshots rang through the phone as the operator cried and screamed as she heard the ordeal. The sound of an open line was heard again as she sat petrified. The voice of the automated operator rang through her ears.

"If you would like to make a call please hang up and dial again if you need please dial your operator…" the phone had been disconnected.

I looked up to see an angel. She was dressed in all blue and her face seemed sad as she lifted my head in her lap. "Are you an Angel? Am I dead?" I gasped listening to my heart slow down. I looked into her violet eyes.

"I'm a Titan" she said in a sympathetic tone. There it was my last heartbeat and with that I was gone.

_**Who's to blame  
For the lives  
That tragedies claim?  
No matter what you say  
It don't take away the pain**_

_**That I feel inside  
I'm tired of all the lies  
Don't nobody know why  
It's the blind  
Leading the blind**_

_**I guess that's the  
Way the story goes  
Will it ever make sense  
Somebody's got to know**_

_**There's got to be  
More to life than this  
There's got to be  
More to everything  
I thought exists**_

_**We are  
We are  
The youth of the nation**_

The young girl looked at the face of her dead peer. Her hands were stained with his blood as she held his chest. He was gone. The Titans had arrived too late. This boy who had everything to live for was now dead. It was just so hard to understand the "why?" of it all.

Raven got up as the sounds of police cruisers filled the hallway. The violet-haired teenager eyes widened; her breath caught in her throat. The white hallways ran red with blood. The tiled floor now covered with bodies of teenagers just like her.

"Who did this?" her voice filled with slight rage and pain. She turned to face the masked boy she considered her leader. His face seemed more pallid and grotesque than when they had arrived.

"There were ten of them. They took turns killing one another after they did this. Cyborg and I found the last one crumpled under some bleachers. When he saw us he took…" His words began to falter "He placed the gun to his head and…I tried to stop him…So much blood." The young boy rambled on.

Starfire ran to the police cruiser passing both Raven and Robin. Tears were cascading down her face. "I can not bear to witness such horrible things!"

The police began pouring in and Cyborg informed them on what had happened with the gunmen responsible for all of this. Raven began making her way through the crimson hallway searching for survivors, if there were any. Robin walked closely beside her.

"We have fought villains and other things unimaginable but this…What is this?" the boy moaned in fear and confusion as they continued down the hall.

Raven's mind went into a frenzy of thoughts. _Who was to blame? Does making sense of it all take away the pain? There's has to be more to life than THIS! There has to be more to everything I thought existed!_

Raven stopped; the will to go on was lost. Robin stopped and gazed at her face. The same confused look he had was mirrored in her eyes.

"What's it all for then? Why are we heroes? We couldn't even save them!" The thoughts that had plagued her mind had finally come out. The young girl fell to her knees in confusion and sorrow asher leader stood watching over the sea of the dead with tears in his eyes.

These were kids just like them whose lives were taken from them. A faint but melodious sound filled the school that night. A ghostly chant that only Robin and Raven could hear, "We Are the Youth of the Nation………..We are the Youth of the Nation"

**_We are  
We are  
The youth of the nation_**


End file.
